Digital Only Subscription
Read the digital SMART Edition of The Times-Tribune on your PC or mobile device, and have 24/7 access to breaking news, local sports, contests, and more at thetimes-tribune.com or on our mobile apps.

Digital Services
Have news alerts sent to your mobile device, read the Smart Edition sign up for daily newsletters, activate your all access, enter contests, take quizzes, download our mobile apps and see the latest e-circulars.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Joseph P. McDonald manned the switchboard at Fort Shafter in Hawaii when he received the alarming message that radar had detected a large number of planes approaching from the north, heading fast for Oahu.
(read more)

Motorists who use the Pango mobile app to pay at parking meters in Scranton will get reimbursed for any inadvertent overcharges since Sept. 1, the new operator of the city’s parking system said.
(read more)

The lawsuit names as defendant Northeast Revenue Service LLC of Wilkes-Barre, a firm hired by Scranton in February to collect delinquent garbage bills from 1999 through 2011. The city is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

After notices of trash-fee delinquencies were sent out by Northeast Revenue, the city's treasurer's office became swamped with residents either paying the bills or contesting them as erroneously issued, said Treasurer Chris Boland.

The billing notices were "false, deceptive, misleading and unfair," according to suit, because:

- They failed to say they were being sent by a debt collector;

- They did not contain required validation/verification information;

- They failed to state the recipient had 30 days to dispute the debt in writing or it would be assumed to be valid; and

- They contained false sums allegedly due.

Ms. Reilly did not owe any garbage bills to the city, the lawsuit said. Rather, she purchased a property in 2011 that had delinquent bills from 2005-09, but those bills were all satisfied as part of the closing, the lawsuit states.

"As a result of defendant's conduct, plaintiff and the class have sustained actual damages including payment of unsubstantiated waste disposal fees and out-of-pocket expenses," states the lawsuit, which seeks injunctive relief and unspecified damages. It also seeks to be maintained as a class action due to the large number of potential plaintiffs who, if they all sued individually, would risk having inconsistent or varying adjudications.

Sean Shamany, treasurer of Northeast Revenue, said the notices of delinquent waste-disposal fees stated that Northeast had been retained by the city to collect the fees from information provided by the city. The notices also stated that a recipient who believed the delinquent bill was in error was advised to call Northeast Revenue or see a representative in City Hall to discuss the bill, he said.

"We just sent out notices from information we obtained from the city and that we were contracted to do," Mr. Shamany said.

Mr. Boland said that if a property owner produces proof of payment, such as a receipt or canceled check, the treasurer's office will certify that the fee was paid. Most people have been understanding of the situation, though it has been an inconvenience for those who received erroneous bills, said Mr. Boland. Some are unhappy with having the burden of proof placed upon them or having to obtain canceled checks from banks to prove the trash fees were paid, he said.

"People who got them in error are upset by it, which is understandable, and by the fact that they have to prove they paid it," Mr. Boland said. "To get records as clear and clean as possible, this is (the) process we've had to go through. I apologize to anyone who got a bill in error."

Ms. Reilly's attorney, Brett Datto of Philadelphia, said of his client, "She feels as though it's wrong, and that anybody trying to collect a debt that does not comply with the law should be held accountable."

In most years, delinquent trash bills would have been mailed in late January to mid-February. This year, however, the delinquency notices for 2011 were significantly delayed by the transition to a new collection agency, officials have said.

The transition left the city without an easily accessible record of which property owners still owe all or part of the $178 annual fee from 2011 and earlier. The delinquencies were previously collected by Northeast Credit and Collections, which stopped working for the city at the end of 2010. Northeast Revenue was hired in August 2011 to collect delinquent real estate taxes, and the collection of back garbage fees was added to its contract in February. Northeast used the city's written records to compile an electronic database of who had and had not paid trash fees, officials have said.

The city typically has collected $700,000 to $800,000 in delinquent garbage fees annually, officials have said. So far, from Nov. 13 to Monday, $115,000 has been collected in delinquent trash fees, Mr. Boland said.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.